Local journalists take stock of civilian casualties in northern Syria

On 9 October, Turkey launched an attack on Rojava, an autonomous and predominantly Kurdish-inhabited region in northern and north-eastern Syria.

This operation did not come as a surprise. Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, for instance, has threatened several times that such an operation was in the offing. The Kurdish Red Crescent (a humanitarian organisation that operates in the city of Kobane in northern Syria, among other places, ed.) has taken stock and says that the attacks in the border region have claimed the lives of more than 550 civilians and injured 1,100.

War crimes

Several journalists working in the region confirm that hundreds of civilians have been killed and Turkish forces have deployed banned weapons. Ersin Çaksu - working as a correspondent for Kurdish news agency ANF - says the Turkish army and fighters from 29 jihadist groups are said to have invaded northern Syria. Çaksu stressed that among these jihadists were fighters complicit in war crimes. “The operations did not only consist of airstrikes. The Turkish army and militants killed every civilian they captured. Images of these killings have also been shared on social media,” he says. “The region is occupied by the Turkish army and inaccessible to the media.” The operations have led to a humanitarian crisis, Çaksu said. “Hundreds of civilians died in airstrikes and hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes. I have seen many people die, such as during an attack in the centre of the city of Serekaniye, where civilians were targeted. Two journalists were killed in this. I was able to rescue a number of wounded civilians.”

No pressure from Europe

Helin Asmin, reporter for Kurdish television station Jin TV, says she has witnessed civilians being deliberately targeted during armed operations. “A commission should be set up as soon as possible to investigate consequences of operations in this region. Kurdish civilians are being killed before the eyes of the world,” she says. Journalist Ali Dağlı also states that hundreds of civilian casualties have occurred since the operations began. “Among the victims are many women and children. Bodies have been set on fire. Europe exerts no real pressure on Turkey. Despite many documented incidents, no intervention has taken place. Jihadist groups feel stronger and free to create even more victims as a result. If public opinion does not raise its voice against these crimes, there will be more deaths,” he stressed.

Sowing fear

IS militants have shared images of killed civilians on social media with the aim of spreading fear, according to Dağlı. “Other jihadist fighters working with Turkish forces have subsequently done the same. An awful lot of civilians were killed, after which images of their bodies were shared on social media.” Dağlı insists that rumours of the use of chemical weapons must be investigated. “Under any other circumstances, allegations about the use of chemical weapons would prompt investigations in the region. Unfortunately, despite all the images and testimonies and despite the fact that doctors have confirmed these rumours, this has not happened so far.”

White phosphorus

Moreover, rumours are circulating that white phosphorus bombs were used against the Kurdish population during Turkish operations. For instance, Swedish-Iranian doctor Abbas Mansouran has claimed in an interview with The Times correspondent Anthony Loyd that such bombs were used during attacks. Mansouran has a lot of knowledge in the field of chemical weapons. “I learnt a lot in the 1980s from my experiences during the Iran-Iraq war. At that time, I treated many victims with very extreme burns. As then, the burns I treated in Rojava are very different in shape and appearance from ‘normal’ burns. I have no doubt that chemical weapons were used and consider it my duty to report that white phosphorus bombs and other unknown chemicals were used,” he says.

* The photos accompanying this article were taken photo by journalist Ali Dağlı at Til Temir hospital in northwestern Syria. The name of the victim in photo above is Ibrahim Mihemmet al-Xelef. He was 60 years old.